2023 was another very busy year for activists, as they launched a total of 1,151 campaigns, up slightly from the full-year 2022 total of 1,083. ESG continues to be a prominent theme, making up 82% of campaign objectives in 2023. More than 60% of the ESG campaigns launched in 2023 focused on corporate governance.

The Consumer Discretionary sector saw the highest year-over-year (YoY) increase in ESG-related activist campaigns at 24%, followed by Financials with a 23% jump in campaigns. Sectors with less activity include Information Technology and Communication Services, which have seen a 15% and 16% YoY decrease in campaigns launched, respectively.

While there is an increasing trend in ESG-related investor activist campaigns and the volume of campaigns launched in general, 2023 featured the lowest success or settle rate over the past four years with 10%, down from 31% in 2019. The Information Technology sector had the highest success or settle rate of 19.3%, while the Energy sector produced the most unsuccessful campaigns with 74%.